‘I dunno.’ I shoulder the bag with the crosses and try my best to hide the exasperated sigh that threatens to leave my body. ‘It’s nice, but you guys missed it more than I did. It was kinda obvious, to be honest. Still is.’

It was true. Going away to Boston for Ma’s visiting professorship in Gender and Women’s Studies at the University of Boston itself was a rough adjustment for my small-town family. They hadn’t planned on staying at all. They rented our house out to a couple of college kids for the year, full well knowing we would all be back.

Except after Ma’s year in Boston, when the family moved right back to Oklahoma and reclaimed their beloved house, I stayed behind. Somewhere in the grungy chaos that was New England, I’d found my home for the next four years at U-Boston. I stayed the summer for lacrosse camp, picked up for UB’s Division One team, and I didn’t look back. I was the only one in my family who didn’t come to hate Boston in some capacity.

Savannah, my sister, was a different story – the University of Oklahoma City was basically her dream since day one. My parents were beyond ecstatic that she’d decided to stay, and, I think, a little relieved.

Now Pop, stubborn as he is, pretends he doesn’t hear a word I say. Instead, he moves on to the next excruciating topic. ‘You know who plays for OKC now?’

I can smell it in the air before he says it. I don’t need him to say it. My cheeks threaten to go red before I can control the reaction. The fucking traitors are already warming up. ‘Where’s Ma at? Sav?’ I ask in hopes that it’ll stop him from going off on this tangent before he’s even started.

Too late. Pop answers my question in two snappy sentences before moving on to his favourite topic. ‘Ma’s in lecture. Sav’s also in lecture. Listen, Colt. Have you been watching her?’

I’ve seen every stat, every match, every highlight, every brilliant play and every not-so-brilliant play. I watched last year happen like it was a semi-truck steamrollering a car in slow motion. And she’s all I’ve been thinking about since I took my dive on the field in August. She’s all I’ve been thinking about since the idea to run home struck me. What I’ll do when I see her again, what I’ll say to her after all this time.

So yeah. No shit, I’ve been watching her.

I say, ‘I guess.’

Chapter Four

Y’all Had Your Moments

May

‘Let’s work behind the crease, ladies!’

Cleats rustle in the grass as midfield and attack line up behind the net for today’s lesson, one we hope will give us some edge when we start our season.